Poland to Adopt Euro When It’s Safe, Prime Minister Tusk Says

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Poland is striving to adopt the euro
as soon as possible and will make the switch only when “100
percent sure” it’s safe, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

The 17-nation euro area needs to resolve internal problems
and Poland, a country of 38 million, must be fully prepared
before it scraps the zloty in favor of Europe’s single currency,
Tusk said in speech to Parliament in Warsaw today.

“Our road to the euro area should be clear-cut and the
decision must be 100 percent safe for Poland,” Tusk said. “The
decision to join should come when the euro area is ready, in
terms of its condition and its readiness for the kind of massive
expansion that Poland’s entry would involve. But above all, when
Poland is 100 percent ready.”

After Europe’s sovereign debt crisis erupted more than
three years ago, threatening to rip apart the currency region,
Poland scrapped plans to adopt the euro in 2012. While Tusk has
revived the membership debate amid signs the crisis is waning,
Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski said in a Feb. 15 interview
that Poland won’t set a deadline to adopt the euro because it
first must further revamp the economy.

The zloty strengthened to 4.17 per euro at 4:19 p.m. in
Warsaw, having lost about 0.9 percent in the past three months.
Poland’s 10-year government bond yield fell two basis points to
4.016 percent.